News Releases

Grenfell – Special viewing of film with presentation by decorated US army member

DATE:

Feb. 22, 2008

The Grenfell College Historical Society is pleased to host a movie presentation of Apocalypse Now.

Apocalypse Now (1979), Francis Ford Coppola's visually beautiful, ground-breaking masterpiece, is celebrated for its surrealistic and symbolic sequences of the confusion, violence, fear, and nightmarish madness of the Vietnam War. The movie was indirectly inspired by Joseph Conrad's 1902 novella Heart of Darkness (about a steamer journey up a river into the Congo and African jungle - and into the darkest reaches of the human psyche). The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Robert Duvall), Best Director and Best Screenplay but it won only two well-deserved awards: Best Cinematography (Vittorio Storaro) and Best Sound. However, it was awarded the Palme D'Or (the top prize) at the Cannes Film Festival.

The evening will begin with a short presentation by Dr. Rudy Sookbirsingh of Grenfell’s environmental studies program. Dr. Sookbirsingh is a decorated US Army member, who has participated in combat missions in both Panama and the first Gulf War. The presentation will begin at 7 p.m. and will be held in LC301 (Library and Computing Building lecture theatre) on Tuesday, Feb. 26. Admission is free of charge. Refreshments will be provided. All are welcome to attend.

The Historical Society is a student-led, faculty-supported group designed to bring together students, faculty and staff affiliated with the discipline of historical studies at Sir Wilfred Grenfell College. The group, one of the oldest running at Grenfell College, organizes social gatherings for its members, facilitates guest-speaker lectures and presents historically-relevant films for a general audience.